The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century

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Overview

In Wired for War, P. W. Singer explores the great­est revolution in military affairs since the atom bomb: the dawn of robotic warfare. We are on the cusp of a massive shift in military technology that threatens to make real the stuff of I, Robot and The Terminator. Blending historical evidence with interviews of an amaz­ing cast of characters, Singer shows how technology is changing not just how wars are fought, but also the politics, economics, laws, and the ethics that surround war itself. Travelling from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to modern-day “skunk works” in the midst of suburbia, Wired for War will tantalise a wide readership, from military buffs to policy wonks to gearheads.

Table of Contents

Wired For WarAuthor’s Note: Why a Book on Robots and War?

Part One: The Change We Are Creating

1. Introduction: Scenes from a Robot War2. Smart Bombs, Norma Jeane, and Defecating Ducks: A Short History of Robotics3. Robotics for Dummies4. To Infinity and Beyond: The Power of Exponential Trends5. Coming Soon to a Battlefield Near You: The Next Wave of Warbots6. Always in the Loop? The Arming and Autonomy of Robots7. Robotic Gods: Our Machine Creators8. What Inspires Them: Science Fiction’s Impact on Science Reality9. The Refuseniks: The Roboticists Who Just Say No

Part Two: What Change Is Creating For Us

10. The Big Cebrowski and the Real RMA: Thinking About Revolutionary Technologies11. “Advanced” Warfare: How We Might Fight with Robots12. Robots That Don’t Like Apple Pi: How the U.S. Could Lose the Unmanned Revolution13. Open-Source Warfare: College Kids, Terrorists, and Other New Users of Robots at War14. Losers and Luddites: The Changing Battlefields Robots Will Fight On and the New Electronic Sparks of War15. The Psychology of Warbots16. YouTube War: The Public and Its Unmanned Wars17. Changing the Experience of War and the Warrior18. Command and Control . . . Alt-Delete: New Technologies and Their Effect on Leadership19. Who Let You in the War? Technology and the New Demographics of Conflict20. Digitizing the Laws of War and Other Issues of (Un)Human Rights21. A Robot Revolt? Talking About Robot Ethics22. Conclusion: The Duality of Robots and Humans